HSNO information sheet 9: How will the changeover for hazardous substances take place?
Existing laws continue in force
Although the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act was passed in June 1996, the hazardous substances parts of the Act will not be brought into force until a comprehensive “toolbox” of regulations have been completed. This means that until this is done, the
- Dangerous Goods Act 1974
- Explosives Act 1957
- Toxic Substances Act 1979
- Pesticides Act 1979
and all of their regulations remain in force. The people and agencies with responsibilities under those Acts also continue to operate as usual until the hazardous substances parts of the Act are brought into force.
When the hazardous substances parts of the Act come into force, there will be a two-phase transition from the old laws to the new regime.
Hazardous Substances Transition
Phase I
Phase 1 begins when the hazardous substances parts of the HSNO Act come into force. In Phase 1, the Act will repeal the Explosives Act 1957, the Dangerous Goods Act 1971, the Toxic Substances Act 1979 and the Pesticides Act 1979.
Hazardous substances notified, licensed or permitted under these laws will then be subject to controls under the transitional provisions of the HSNO Act. These provisions substantially carry over the controls under the repealed Acts.
During this period the Environmental Risk Management Authority will take over the administration of the various regimes for the approval and control of hazardous substances that have been carried over from the repealed laws. However, the Toxic Substances Board and the Pesticides Board will complete any applications they have in progress. After this these Boards will be abolished.
To make sure business can be conducted in an orderly manner during the transition, the Environmental Risk Management Authority will have some capacity to change conditions in the carried-over regulations. For example, the conditions imposed on the sale of a pesticide can be changed if need be, but only within the parameters set out in the transitional provisions of the HSNO Act. These provisions mirror the provisions of the repealed Acts.
An Amendment Bill soon to be considered by the Local Government and Environment Select Committee of Parliament would enable the Authority to delegate functions carried forward from the old Acts. For example, it could delegate the power to issue dangerous goods licenses to local authority Dangerous Goods inspectors. In either case, during Phase I users of common hazardous substances may notice little difference from the old system (although, if the change to allow delegation is agreed by Parliament, processing of applications will be faster).
Phase II
In Phase II, substances already notified, licensed or permitted will be transferred from the old controls carried over in the transitional provisions to the provisions in the main parts of the new Act.
Controls will be transferred using regulations that will be developed after public consultation under section 160 of the Act. These regulations will essentially say that substances with existing controls are now subject to the controls in the HSNO Act. Section 160 provides that this changeover will apply requirements generally equivalent to the current prescriptive controls on hazardous substances.
To ensure that the transitional provisions cover substances already in use, it is important that people carry out their responsibilities under present laws, such as notifying substances under the Toxic Substances Act. The transitional arrangements will apply only to substances properly notified, registered or licensed under the old laws. Those substances considered hazardous under the HSNO Act which have not been notified or registered or scheduled under the old laws before the hazardous substance part of the new Act come into force, will require an approval under Part V of the HSNO Act.
Sunset clause
To ensure that the transitional period does not continue indefinitely, an expiry period of 1 January 2000 was originally written into section 152 of the Act. A recent Order-in-Council extended this for one year to 1 January 2001. The HSNO Act Amendment Bill would extend this expiry date to 3 years after commencement, with the provision for a further two-year extension.
How people can be involved in the changeover
Recognising the strong public interest in the regulation of hazardous substances, the Act provides for the public to have a say on regulations made under section 160, that transfer the control of hazardous substances over to the main parts of the Act. To this end, ERMA NZ will publicly notify lists of the substances to be transferred, for public comment.
Further information
For further information access the ERMA New Zealand website, or contact:
Dr S.R. Vaughan
Project Manager
Tel. 04 917-7404
Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Reform
Ministry for the Environment
PO Box 10362
Wellington
FAX 04 917-7523
